May 20, 2008
Schedule:
Wednesday: MU vs. Texas, 9 a.m.
Thursday: MU vs. Oklahoma, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday: MU vs. Texas A&M, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday: Championship Game, 1 p.m.
Stadium: Bricktown Ballpark
Capacity: 13,066
Radio: KTGR 1580-AM
Live Audio: KTGR.com
Live Video: big12sports.com
Live Gametracker: mutigers.com
MISSOURI TIGERS
Overall Record: 37-17
Big 12 Record: 16-11
Last 5/Last 10: 4-1/8-2
Streak: Won 4
Website: mutigers.com
Head Coach: Tim Jamieson
Career Record: 478-325-2 (14th year)
Record at MU: 478-325-2 (14th year)
COMPLETE GAMENOTES
FIRST PITCH
Missouri is the fourth seed at this week's Big 12 Conference Championship, played at Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Okla.
The Tigers finished the season 37-17 overall and 16-11 in the Big 12 Conference. They are joined in their pool by top-seed Texas A&M, No. 5 Texas and No. 8 Oklahoma.
MU will play in the first game of the week, taking on Texas at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The Tigers will then face Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and take on Texas A&M on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
The Big 12 Championship consist of two pools with the winners of the two pools meeting in the Big 12 Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
On the other side of the bracket from Mizzou is No. 2 seed Oklahoma State, No. 3 Nebraska, No. 6 Baylor and No. 7 Kansas State.
The Tigers have won four in a row and are coming off a three-game sweep of Nebraska to conclude the regular season.
LAST YEAR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Missouri went 1-2 at the 2007 Big 12 Championship, dropping its first two games before winning it final game in Oklahoma City.
The Tigers were the No. 2 seed opened with a 7-2 loss to the seventh-seeded Oklahoma. MU managed just six hits in the game, with two coming from Aaron Senne. Both of Senne's hits were doubles.
Mizzou had runners on base in all but one inning, but stranded a total of 14 and left the bases loaded in the fifth and seventh innings.
Baylor handed the Tigers their second loss of the tournament, by a 10-5 score. MU led by one heading to the fifth inning before the Bears put together a five-run bottom of the fifth to take the lead.
Missouri finished the week strong, picking up a 13-1 run-rule victory over Oklahoma State. It was the Tigers' largest margin of victory ever at the Big 12 Tournament.
The Tigers blew the game open with a five-run top of the fourth inning, highlighted by a home run from Jacob Priday. Priday drove in five runs in the game.
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SOMETHING TO CROW ABOUT
Junior
Aaron Crow moved to 12-0 on the year, picking up the victory against Nebraska last Friday. With the win, he set a new the school record for victories in a season.
He has also moved into sixth place in the MU record book for strikeouts in a season with 111 and is third in career K's at MU with 261.
Crow has been named among a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Roger Clemens Award.
Crow, a preseason All-American, had a string of 43.0 scoreless innings pitched snapped against Texas on April 11.
He allowed five runs in the first inning against UT, after giving up just four runs in his first seven starts of the year. Despite allowing nine runs total against Texas, Crow picked up the win and won each of his first nine starts this season.
Crow's scoreless innings streak is believed to have tied for the fourth-longest in NCAA D-I history. The NCAA record for the longest scoreless inning streak is not found in the record books.
Crow leads the Big 12 Conference in strikeouts with 111.
On March 14, Crow struck out a career-high 15 batters against Toledo, bettering his previous best of 10 set just two weeks prior against Cal.
Only two Toledo batters advanced beyond first base, as Crow allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter.
Starting with the final out of the fourth inning and continuing through the eighth inning, Crow struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the eighth. He threw 107 pitches, 87 of which were strikes.
He recorded a second-straight complete-game shutout with a 10-strikeout performance against Baylor on March 21.
Crow was selected as the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week following that performance.
On March 28, Crow turned in eight scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out nine against Texas Tech.
He recorded his third complete game shutout of the season, striking out seven against Oklahoma State on April 4 to improve to 7-0. He earned his second Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week honor following the victory over the Cowboys.
He improved to 9-0 by claiming the win over Oklahoma on April 18. He allowed four runs in the first two innings, but did not allow a hit over the next 3.2 innings and did not give up a run over the next 5.2 innings pitched.
On April 25, Crow took a no decision against Texas A&M, his first start this season in which he did not record the win.
Crow picked up win number 10 on the year, despite his shortest outing of the season, 5.1 IP against Kansas State on May 2.
He moved to 11-0 with the win over Kansas on May 9. He struck out 11, allowing just two unearned runs on five hits in the game.
Last Friday, he allowed a run on four hits in 8.1 innings pitched against Nebraska, striking out eight. All of the hits and the run came in the first two innings of the game.
SENNE DELIVERS BIG FOR MIZZOU
One of the most consistent bats in the Tigers' line-up, sophomore Aaron Senne leads the team with 70 hits and 63 RBI. Senne is second on the squad in batting average (.363), home runs (13), slugging percentage (.632), runs scored (48) and walks (37).
Senne's batting average ranks seventh in the Big 12 and he is second in the league in RBI.
It was quite a homecoming for Senne on March 25 as Missouri defeated Minnesota, 17-8, at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Senne, a native of Rochester, Minn., tied a school record with eight RBI, hit two home runs and had a career-high four hits in his return to his home state.
With a large contingent of family and friends in attendance, Senne was 4-for-4 with eight runs driven in and two runs scored. He took over the team lead with six home runs.
In his first at-bat, Senne connected on a two-run homer to right centerfield to give the Tigers the early 2-0 lead. He singled in each of his next two at-bats, driving in runs on both hits.
MU sent 15 batters to the plate in the sixth inning, with three of the nine runs scoring on Senne's second home run of the night and his sixth of the season. Senne's drove in his eighth run of the game when he was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases loaded in his second trip to the plate in the sixth inning.
Senne's eight RBI matches Marcus Adler's eight RBI game against Evansville in 1986. Senne has driven in at least five runs in a game three times this season.
It was his second two-home run game this season, as he also hit two against Indiana State on March 9.
KYLE WITH A `K'
Heading into this week, sophomore Kyle Gibson has struck out 89 batters in 81.1 innings pitched. He ranks third in the Big 12 Conference is strikeouts.
Gibson was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week on May 12 after he picked up a win and a save in the series at Kansas.
He recorded the last out of the game in Friday's opener, striking out the only batter he faced to pick up the save. Gibson then recorded a seven-inning complete-game win in Sunday's finale as he gave up just one run on five hits.
It was his second seven-inning complete-game win this year. On March 23 against Baylor, Gibson allowed just one unearned run on four hits in seven innings, as the Tigers run-ruled the Bears in the series finale.
Gibson split time between being a starter and coming out of the bullpen as a freshman in 2007. This season, he has taken the role as a weekend starter and is 8-1 on the year.
Gibson has 16-career wins after finishing last season with an 8-4 record. He also picked up seven saves as a freshman.
GIBSON, SENNE INVITED TO USA BASEBALL TEAM TRIALS
USA Baseball announced last week its initial list of 12 collegiate players who have accepted invitations for the 2008 National Team Trials to be held June 11-23 throughout the northeast and southeast United States.
This list includes Mizzou sophomores Kyle Gibson and Aaron Senne. In all, 32 players will be invited to the National Team Trials, with 22 of those players being selected for the National Team roster.
USA Baseball's 2008 National Team schedule includes a six-game friendship series against Chinese Taipei and a month-long trip to Europe where the team will compete in Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands and in the IV FISU World Collegiate Baseball Championship in the Czech Republic.
In 2005, Max Scherzer and Hunter Mense were invited to the trials and each made the national team roster. That year, MU Head Coach Tim Jamieson served as an assistant coach for Team USA.
PRIDAY BECOMES MIZZOU'S HOME RUN KING
On April 16, senior Jacob Priday became the career home run record holder at Mizzou. He hit two homers against William Woods to give him 46 for his career, breaking the previous school record of 45 set by Mike Rogers (1984-87).
He hit two home runs against Kansas State on May 2 and has 15 home runs on the year, which is a career best for homers in a season for Priday.
Priday also moved to the tops of the career RBI list at MU with three against William Woods.
He currently has 232 RBI in his career surpassing Ryan Fry's mark of 222 (1995-98).
Priday had a record-setting night in the series opener against Texas on April 11. He finished 5-for-5 in the game and broke an MU school record and the Big 12 Conference record with four home runs on the night. The four homers was third most in the history of the NCAA. The record is six, hit by Marshall McDougall of Florida State in 1999.
Priday also set a Missouri school record with nine RBI and tied the MU mark with six runs scored.
In the three-game series against Texas, Priday hit .583 (7-for-12), with four homers, a double and 11 RBI. He had a slugging percentage of 1.667 for the series.
The performance earned him Big 12 Conference and NCBWA National Player of the Week honors.
Priday's 15 home runs lead the conference and his 56 RBI are sixth most in the league. He also leads the Big 12 with a .696 slugging percentage.
In addition to holding the Mizzou record for career home runs and RBI, he has also set new school records for at-bats (861), extra-base hits (111) and total bases (477). He is currently second with 55 doubles.
SHARING THE SAVES
The Tigers have 17 saves as a team this year, with seven pitchers earning those seven saves. Mizzou had four pitchers earn saves all of last season.
Junior Scooter Hicks recorded saves in back-to-back games against Kansas State and leads the team with five on the year.
Freshman Nick Tepesch is second on the squad with four saves.
Junior Rick Zagone has picked up three saves, all coming in a two-week span, with saves against Missouri State, Texas and William Woods.
Sophomore Kyle Gibson recorded his first save of the year against Kansas on May 9 and then recorded a save on Sunday against Nebraska. He had seven in his freshman season a year ago.
Freshmen Kelly Fick, sophomore Ryan Allen and junior Ryan Gargano have also recorded a save this season.
The five saves for Hicks, give him 11 for his career, which is sixth most in school history. The record is 19, set by Scott Black (1987-90).
BERGER, WELL DONE
Junior Ian Berger has a 4.18 ERA, which is 14th in the Big 12 Conference.
Berger had a string of 26.1 scoreless innings snapped against Texas Tech on March 29. He struck out six and gave up just one run on four hits in eight innings pitched against TTU.
He has started 12 times this season, earning wins against San Diego State, Toledo, Baylor and Nebraska.
Berger allowed just one run on six hits in seven innings pitched against San Diego State, to pick up his first win of the year.
He pitched eight scoreless innings against Toledo, allowing just four hits to earn his second victory.
Berger struck out eight against Baylor, allowing just one hit in seven innings. A double by BU's second batter of the game was the lone hit for the Bears on the afternoon. Following the double, Berger retired the next 10 batters he faced and 14 of the next 15.
Berger picked up the loss in three-straight starts from April 5-20. He was saddled with his first loss of the season against Oklahoma State, then took the defeat in the series finales with Texas and Oklahoma.
He started against Southern Illinois, allowing just one run on four hits and took a no decision.
Berger started the against Kansas at Kauffman Stadium on April 29 and allowed only three runs on six hits in seven inning pitched, but was saddled with the loss.
In his last outing, he took a no decision against Creighton on May 6.
He started last Saturday against Nebraska and picked up his fourth win of the year to even his record at 4-4.
TAKING A HIT
Through 54 games of the regular season, the Tigers have been hit by a pitch 94 times.
The school record for hit-by-pitches in a year is 108, set in 2005. MU came close to breaking that record last year, with 107 HBPs.
Missouri was hit by 22 pitches in the first week of the season alone, averaging 5.5 HBPs per game through the first four games. The Tigers had three-straight games from Feb. 23-25 in which six batters were hit by pitches.
Senior Jacob Priday has taken over team lead in that category with 12 HBPs this year. He is one ahead of senior Lee Fischer and sophomore Trevor Coleman.
Junior Kyle Mach and freshman Andrew Thigpen have each been hit by 10 pitches Brock Bond holds the MU record for hit-by-pitches in a season, with 25 in 2007.
Sophomore Aaron Senne has seven HBPs and was hit four times against Minnesota on March 26.
